U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,736 to Ford, et al., discloses a bead wire located by means of blocks mounted on the wire with the blocks being made of a material which has similar physical properties to the material of the bead region of the finished tire. Bead wires prepared with such blocks are located, one in each of the bead regions of the tire mold, with polyurethane thereafter being poured into the mold to form the tire. In a similar manner, it is also known to manually locate the reinforcing elements in the casting mold by the use of small bead clips.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,670 to Tangorra, et al., discloses, in FIG. 6, a bead portion of a tire having a circumferential groove therein into which reinforcing strands of metallic wire are positioned. However, the metal wires are wound up in a plurality of parallel coils about the tire bead after the positioning of the bead in its own seat of the wheel rim, with the ends of the metal wires being then connected, by means of conventional known systems, so as to compress the bead against a supporting base of the rim and thereby ensuring the anchorage of the two parts. Thus, the annular reinforcing element basically functions as a retaining ring which is a separate part and is applied after the tire has been seated on the rim. Consequently, the tire can be removed from the rim only after the retainers or annular elements have been initially removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,370 to Unwin, et al., discloses a seal arrangement for an oval tire and rim wherein the base of the tire is formed with annular steps or grooves, inwardly of the tire sidewalls, for receiving a pair of restraining devices or roll restraining hoops. These hoops seem to accomplish a purpose similar to that of a normal bead reinforcing structure and include elastomeric rings reinforced with wires. This construction appears to be usable only with an oval tire of a hollow toroidal construction, i.e., a construction without the usual tire bead portions.